A UST Communication senior and The Flame features editor has received an honorable mention at the 21st Doreen Gamboa Fernandez (DGF) Food Writing Award for a literary piece dedicated to his love of grilled fish.
Eugene Paul Lorenzo is one of the five authors who has earned an honorable mention for his work, “Ode to the Inihaw na Bangus.” At 21 years old, he is the youngest of the honorees.
Lorenzo began serving as features editor of The Flame, the official student publication of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, in July this year.
“There is nothing ostentatious about the inihaw na bangus. It is the inverse of complexity and excess: it thrives in simplicity. In fact, it is nothing but bland fish without its sawsawan of many persuasions—a symphony bereft of the soprano parts,” an excerpt from the award-winning piece read.
“But such is the wisdom of the natives, who discovered that bagoong halubaybay and calamansi, or soy sauce, calamansi and a bit of siling labuyo, will conjure up the violins and trumpets and create soaring harmony.”
The entries were judged based on content (40%), research (40%) and style (20%).
The communication senior also studied at the University during his senior high school years from 2019 to 2021.
A filmmaker, Lorenzo won best cinematography, best editing and best musical direction at the Lente Student Short Film Festival in 2018.
The DGF Food Writing Award was established in 2002 to encourage Filipino writers to explore local food literature.
The awarding ceremony will be held at Amorsolo Square, Makati City on Sept. 28. F
